Tenants of social rental housing do not have to worry about any extreme rent increases in the coming years. The association of housing corporations Aedas and the Woonbond made a new social lease agreement in which they agreed that social housing tenants will not carry the costs of making their homes more energy-efficient. And rents will rise by no more than inflation in the coming years, RTL Nieuws reports.
The agreement still has to be approved by the members of both organizations.
A total of 8 thousand Groningen residents reported to tenants' organizations and De Woonbond over the past year for help in filing a claim for non-material damage because gas extraction earthquakes in the area disturbed their living enjoyment, De Woonbond announced on Friday, NU.nl reports.
The Groningen residents will be assisted in their claim by De Haan Advocaten & Notarissen. The firm previously successfully assisted other Groningen residents in a similar case.
An increasing number of Dutch tenants find themselves in long-term financial problems, according to a study by the Netherlands' environmental assessment agency PBL. In 2012 a total of 37 percent of tenants were barely able to pay their bills for four years in a row. In 2015 that increased to almost 55 percent, NU.nl reports.
According to the PBL, the increase in households in financial binds can partly be attributed to rising rental prices and housing costs. An influx of new households with relatively low income in the rental sector also plays a role.
Tenants association Woonbond is suing the Dutch state to refund hundreds of thousands of renters for "unjustified rent increases". According to the association, the tax authorities illegally shared tenants' information with landlords for years, which resulted in higher rent increases, RTL Nieuws reports. From 2013 all tenants with a gross annual income of 33,600 euros or higher received an income related rent increase. That involves hundreds of thousands of tenants. The tax Authorities sent income details about these tenants to housing associations and private landlords for this reason.
Despite the burden of landlords tax, housing corporations have sufficient opportunities to build new housing and renovate existing homes, Minister Stef Blok of Housing said in parliament on Tuesday. He cited figures from Bureau Ortec Finance which show that it is possible to build 250 thousand new homes
Housing corporations association Aedes, the Housing Association and the association of Dutch municipalities VNG are calling for the landlords tax to be abolished. A study by the University of Groningen showes that the tax has a negative impact on the availability of social housing and on households with low incomes,
Amsterdam housing corporations are working hard in The Hague lobbying for higher rent increases than was agreed upon on in the Housing Agreement.
By way of an adjustment to the points system, thousands of tenants will be looking forward to a reduction in their rent by up to 200 euros. Housing associations and commercial landlords are not obligated to take these initiatory obligations strictly upon themselves, Housing Association spokesperson Marcel Trip van de Woonbond told AD.nl that tenants should not assume that their rent would automatically be lowered, they themselves should conduct home inspections and submit this to their landlords.
Stakeholders are concerned that a combination of increasing rental property sail and the small amount of new social rent homes being built will soon lead to a shortage of social housing.
Rent prices for most social housing will increase less sharply from next year. Aedes, the association for housing corporations which represents about 90 percent of the corporations in the Netherlands, and Woonbond, the association for tenants, have reached an agreement to increase rents with less than the current legal maximum.
Housing associations offer very little cheap rental housing with rent up to 403 euro. Only 7 percent of available rental homes fall into this cheap category.
Housing corporations are required to continue offering rental housing to families entitled to the social housing benefit. Minister of Housing Stef Blok announced on Friday that it is a legal standard that must be maintained. Blok wants to reverse the trend of more and more families with rent allowance signing expensive rental agreements, he said in a statement.
Dozens of tenants' organizations are meeting in Utrecht on Saturday to plan actions against the rent increases. The Woonbond started the campaign "Block the rent increase" today and wants politicians to put an end to the policy that allows skyrocketing rent increases.
Tenants are staging mass protests against a new regulation that would see hundreds of thousands of people earning above average pay an extra 4-6.5 percent on their rent per 1 July. Hundreds of people have announced that they are landing in money problems because of this.
In the last few weeks, landlords have broken the privacy rules of their tenants by asking and receiving their clients' income details from the Tax Administration Authority. This, according to renters' organization Woonbond, the Volkskrant reports.
Poverty among tenants increases. Besides the housing costs already 724,000 tenants can’t afford the expenses for living. In 2017 there are 891,000 tenants to be expected to live officially in poverty. This concludes the Woonbond, based on their own research, on Thursday.
Since July 1 of this year, the government allows that the rent may rise faster than the inflation. To compensate the landlord levy imposed by the government, many landlords raise their rents considerably.
